my pump gear: On a Day at Sea World

Sea World...so inspiring! I mean, they pump upbeat music through the trees and bushes. It put a zing in my step! We "oooo'ed and ahhh'ed" at the amazing shows. And that feeling I had as a child...you know the one...the "I-want-to-be-a-whale-trainer-when-I-grow-up" feeling?...I got it again. (And, yes, I do realize, I am a 40-something year old mom of 3!)

It was a great day...just C and me. The boys were off camping - doing their "boys only" trip. So C and I decided to go down to San Diego for the day. She had never been to Sea World before. Well, actually, the last time we'd been there was 8 years ago, when I was pregnant with her. So, technically she had been there. But, anyway...

We got up pretty early, packed some lunch, made sure we had all the necessary D items (insulin and site change, included), had a quick breakfast, and we were out the door. It's a good 2 hour drive from where we live, but we made good time. We arrived soon after the gates opened at 9:00 am. C was so excited.

{I have to share a tidbit of info here. Sea World, like everything else, is expensive. It was going to cost us $110 just for admission for the 2 of us. The night before, I went online and found this sight: RetailMeNot.com I purchased a regular adult admission and got a child's for free! It worked! I printed out our tickets for nearly 1/2 the price!}

Now, I was trying to go cheap, here, but because I saved so much on admission, I decided to put that money toward an animal experience for us. We made our reservations to "Dine with Shamu." Yes, we would be eating dinner with a killer whale! More on that later...

So, we did anything and everything that C wanted. She called the shots. We donned our trusty ponchos and enjoyed Shipwreck Rapids. We flew over the Wild Arctic in a helicopter. We saw the amazing Shamu Show. We meandered through several animal-viewing areas including sea turtles, dolphins, flamingos, penguins and sharks. We saw the perpetual Clyde and Seymour Sea Lion Show. The Dolphin Show entertained us. Then, it was time for dinner...with Shamu!

We were among a small group of people, escorted back behind a large whale tank (the one that used to be used for birthing baby killer whales). We sat poolside and got the "inside secrets" of the Shamu Show! We went through a nice buffet line with yummy beef tenderloin in a burgundy sauce, seafood creole, delicious salads and of course, all the fun kid food you can imagine. The dessert bar was beautiful. However, I waited too long to get a scrumptious piece of double chocolate cheesecake. They were cleaned out on my second trip through ! But C got her "mystery carb count" whale cookie and was happy as a clam (or a whale!)

After our dining experience, whale-side, we were escorted through the backstage area to our reserved seats for the nighttime show. This show is different from the earlier daytime one. All the lights and sounds just dazzled. It was so fun and so worth it. The grinning 7 year old is proof!

Notice how I've barely mentioned diabetes in this post? That's not to say it wasn't an issue. We tested A LOT. But, I must admit, it behaved itself during the entire adventuresome day at Sea World. C stayed 150 or below all day long! And when we were ready for a treat here and there, her number was remarkably in range!

When we finally left the park at nearly 10 pm, we did a quick finger check before heading out...146...wow, I thought! That's pretty good for 2 1/2 hours post a mystery, buffet meal. I felt good with that number, so we headed home.

When we got home around midnight, I took a sleepy girl upstairs and checked her bg. 367! Go figure. I guess diabetes liked Sea World just as much as we did.